Chains
by La miseria y la muerte
Summary: Jenny is trapped somewhere in the cluster, and Vexus will not let her escape. Can she be free?
1. For so long

It feels like only yesterday I was going to High School, hanging out with my friends, trying to fit in. I still hear them calling my name. Jenny. Where did I go wrong?  
  
How could I let her get me? Vexus. The name itself reeks of a pure and terrible evil. I knew I could never join her cluster. They enslaved humans, the species I was built to protect. I knew who I was, I did not try to hide, try to be someone else. There were times I wished I was normal, but I always felt my true identity. But why me? Why me? Where there no other robots she could have taken? Did I do something wrong? Did I try to hard? Was there something wrong with me?  
  
If only I could still be there. Wind in my hair, back pack on my shoulders, a truly perfect day.  
  
I still remember, my first class was Language Arts.  
  
"All right class," Ms. Larnge said,"Please pick your partners for our next project on verbs and adverbs."  
  
"Brit!" I said,"Do you wanna be my partner?!"  
  
"I'm terribly sorry" She said,"But I promised Tiff I would be her partner."  
  
"Yeah, that's right," Tiff said,"We are always partners."  
  
"Oh okay..." I said, a little down.  
  
"JENNY JENNY JENNY!!!" Sheldon screamed,"Will you be MY partner???"  
  
I looked in his brown eyes, full of lust, and could not bring myself to say no. And so that's how it happened. That's how Sheldon and I became Language Arts partners.  
  
"Can I come over to your house after school Jenny?" Sheldon begged,"To work on the project I mean."  
  
"All right," I sighed,"Right after school come to my house."  
  
I saw him practically jump out of his skin. Poor Sheldon, he must have been waiting a long time.  
  
Later that day, during lunch, I was called downtown by mom to stop a mess started by some unknown character. I flew down to find, to my surprise, several other robots. I did not know what to think, when I figured out that it was them causing the damage, I just started to try and beat them until they either gave in, or I won. But neither happened.  
  
No sooner than my first touch to the robots did Vexus appear. She laughed her evil laugh and looked at me like a fool.  
  
"I told you that you would join the cluster." She said.  
  
"Forget it," I told her,"I hate you and your cluster."  
  
"Such strong words from a simple-minded droid." She told me. "Seize her!" She commanded her small armada.  
  
I quickly flew up much higher than Vexus' army, but I was too late. One of them grabbed my leg and I could not escape. They took me and then all I remember is darkness.  
  
***  
  
When I woke up Vexus was in front of me.  
  
"Where am I?" I asked  
  
"You are at the Cluster, XJ9." She answered cruelly,"I knew you would come someday."  
  
"Let me go!" I said.  
  
"Of course not!" She said. "I spent so much time trying to obtain you for the cluster, do you think I would let you go that easily? Never! You will stay here XJ9, until you willingly surrender yourself and become a member of the cluster."  
  
"I'll never surrender." I said. I tried to fly away, but something went wrong, my rockets would not turn on.  
  
Vexus laughed,"You think I would let you fly away? Silly robot girl, I shut them off."  
  
I was ready to kill her. I tried to spring from the wall but the restraints on my wrists and ankles were nailed to the wall. They were so hard, solid steel I suspect. I've had plenty of time to analyze them.  
  
"Those restraints can hold robots for up to ten thousand years." Vexus informed me,"You will stay put right where you are."  
  
I could tell from that moment, that I was doomed.  
  
***  
  
For so long I have been waiting here in Vexus' throne room. I am a captive, not a slave, I don't do any work for no pay, I just sit and wait.   
  
There is a leak in the roof right above my head. It's been dripping for days. Maybe even months. Possibly years. I can't tell. All time just seems to warp together in my mind.  
  
I wonder how Brad and Tuck are. I hope Mom is keeping well. Brit and Tiff must have forgotten all about me. I was just a distraction in their mind. And after all the times I've saved them...  
  
The door just opened. It must be Vexus.  
  
"Well well well..." She smiles at me,"Not giving in, are we?"  
  
"Never"  
  
"You don't seem to understand do you? I'm Vexus! I rule the robot world! You are the only robot in the universe that has not joined the cluster! What is wrong with you!!" she screams in my face.  
  
"Let me go." I say.  
  
She ignores me. "My human slaves are staying in these quarters for the time being. There are only 50 or so of them, if they are a bother to you then feel free to vaporize them."  
  
"It's not tempting, at all." I say.  
  
"You may change your mind." And then she leaves.  
  
Beaten and torn humans come in the moment she leaves. They look hungry, tired and pale. All of them look at me with such vile in their eyes. I have time to count them all. 46, Vexus exaggerated, that did not surprise me.   
  
Right at that moment, I think of a plan.  
  
A man that I suspect is about 35 sleeps by my feet at night. One morning I decide to tell him my plan.  
  
"Hey, hey!" I say,"Wake up!"  
  
He groans,"What is it?"  
  
"If you unchain me from the wall, I can get you all out of here."  
  
"You're lying."  
  
"No I'm not, I'm the only robot in the world that hasn't joined the cluster."  
  
"Vexus said there were no robots that haven't joined the cluster."  
  
"She's lying, it's her hobby." I say,"My name is..."  
  
I could not say anything. What is my name? Mom called me XJ9, but that is not my name. What is it?  
  
"Well...I don't know what my name is," I say to him,"But please, set me free and I'll do the same for you."  
  
"If Vexus catches me, I'll be killed."  
  
"You're already dead. Look at you! Working hard as a slave to a machine, and for little food and water, you barely have any shelter! You have nothing left to lose."  
  
His eyes staring at me like red burning coals, he knows I'm right. With all his rage locked inside of him, he bursts like a hundred balloons and creates fire with the flint from my dispowered rockets and an old good-luck stone he still has. With the flame he burns the locks off my wrists and ankles, and I am free.  
  
***  
  
Well, there's chapter 1. Please review this, if no one does I'm not writing a second chapter. 


	2. Surprises

It's time for revenge.  
  
When the moment of opportunity speaks, I listen. The last couple of times that opportunity told me something, I ignored, but now I hear with the strength of a thousand ears. It's calling my name.  
  
It's time to do what needs to be done. Free the humans as I promised.  
  
I'm flying out of here! Wait, my rockets, Vexus destroyed them. I can't fly!  
  
"Light the bottom of my feet with that stone!" I order the man. It is no use, there just isn't enough power.  
  
"I'm so angry!!" I scream. I pound the wall with my fist. I guess I don't know my own strengh, because a giant hole formed in the middle when I hit it.  
  
I look at the man. "What's your name?"  
  
"Michael."  
  
"Can hang on tight?"  
  
"Yes, I suppose."  
  
"Grab my shoulders."  
  
He grabs me, and I start my high powered skates. We ride like the wind.  
  
We finally reach Vexus' lair, and there she is. On her throne.  
  
There are posters of me everywhere. They have my picture and say 'if captured, bring to Vexus for reward'. I won't be able to walk for another two feet until I'm captured. And after all my hard work...  
  
"Do you have children?" I ask Michael.  
  
"Yes, two."  
  
"How lovely. I bet they miss you."  
  
"Will we make it?"  
  
"Maybe." Then I remember something I said before. 'You have nothing left to lose.' I needed to fight Vexus and her guards. I needed freedom.  
  
I walk straight in front of her.  
  
"XJ9! How did you-"  
  
"Alright Vexus, I'm ready."  
  
"Seize her!"  
  
I set my built in buzzsaw to good use, cutting the heads off of all her guards.  
  
"How did you do that!" She screams like an angry cat,"You! A pathetic 5 year-old robot destroying my experienced guards!"  
  
"Nothing left but you and me" I say  
  
She stares me in the eye for a second. That second is just long enough for me to see something behind her, but what is it?  
  
She steps out of the way, it's a cord plugged into the wall! She must be recharging herself!  
  
"You think you can destroy me, Vexus, Queen of the cluster? You cannot you fool!! For all the time you've been rotting in a robot's hell, I've been treated like the beautiful royalty I am!"  
  
Her words do not anger me. If I let her get to me then I'll be destroyed. I dive for the cord, it's do or die whatever your name is, do or die.  
  
Do I have it? I feel something in my hands, maybe it's death, no...I got it! Vexus' cord! I got it! Quickly I plug it into my hand.  
  
Suddenly, guards appear out of nowhere. "Look! It's XJ9! Get her!" They shout  
  
"If anybody moves, Vexus is as good as dead!" I power my chainsaw and hold it not far from her head. "Michael! Nobody touch a hair on his head!" I order.  
  
He stands by me. "Your highness!" They all shout  
  
"Do as the girl says!" Vexus commands out of fear.  
  
"Me and Michael are leaving, we're going back to Earth and if anyone has a problem with that, Vexus pays."  
  
"Get her the escape pod!" Vexus orders them,"Now!"  
  
In no time, they have it for me. I step inside and Michael does the same.  
  
"Be warned Vexus," I whisper to her,"I haven't done half of what I could have done to you in this last hour. If you come for me again, I will show no mercy." I toss her out of the pod like a used tissue.  
  
I press the lift off button, and then I am gone.  
  
***  
  
We couldn't have been in space for long, but, oh! What a wait! I remember the countless hours, or perhaps minutes, spent wondering what life was like there now. Arrival is approaching us like a bird approachs the air.  
  
"Can you believe it, Michael?" I say,"We'll be there soon."  
  
"I hope my wife and children recognize me, I'm a total wreck." He says  
  
"Don't worry, I bet anything they've been waiting for you."  
  
We land on the ground like a butterfly. I open the door, the ground smells so warm and pleasing. Children laughing and running around, oh! Sweet Earth!  
  
"Freeze!" A cop out of nowhere shouts,"Who are you?"  
  
"I'm XJ9," is that my real name? "This is Michael." I tell him. "We've been trapped on the cluster planet for several years."  
  
He walks around the ship, inspecting it I presume.  
  
"There sure have been alot of us taken to that cluster, but no one's ever come back before." He pauses,"This sure looks like a cluster ship though. Hey, wait a minute, isn't the cluster a planet of flesh-hungry robots?"  
  
"Yes, but I'm not part of the cluster!" I say,"I was held captive there for a really long time."  
  
He looks at me with great interest,"Are you Jenny Wakeman?"  
  
"YES! YES! That's my name!" I shout.  
  
"We've been looking for you for years! Wait'll I tell the town!!! EVERYONE!! JENNY WAKEMAN'S BACK!!!"  
  
"Michael, do you wanna go back to your home?"  
  
"Yes ma'am. Thanks a bunch Jenny, I'll never forget you." He says  
  
"No problem, it's what I was built for."  
  
He thanks me again, and then I watch him walk away.  
  
"Jenny?" A deep voice behind me says.  
  
I turn around to find a tall and slender man, with short black hair neatly combed off to the side. He has tan colored skin, a beautiful smile and brown eyes.  
  
"Do I know you?" I ask this person whom I don't recognize.  
  
"It's me, Sheldon."  
  
"Sheldon? Sheldon Lee?" I say, in much shock.  
  
"Of course, remember me?"  
  
"Do I ever!" I tell him,"You look taller and your voice is so much deeper."  
  
He chuckles,"Well, there have been alot of changes in the last years. I haven't seen you since I was 15."  
  
"Wow, have I been gone that long?"  
  
"Jenny," He looks at me seriously,"no one's seen you for ten years."  
  
"What!?" I nearly faint.  
  
***  
  
"Wow! This is your house?" I gaze up long and hard at the fortress that is Sheldon's 3-story home. It is very big and well-kept. The paint is pale red and there are many rose bushes in the front of the house. I can also see the four car garage, and it's full, too!  
  
"I built it myself." He says.  
  
"Really?"  
  
"Yep, I'm the owner of my own business now, Lee Homes. It's only worth about five to ten million, but everyday we get new clients." He sighs,"Watching my business grow is one of the most rewarding things in my life, next to my son."  
  
"Your son?"  
  
"Oh yes, he's only six months old, but I still cannot imagine life without him."  
  
I see Sheldon's wedding ring now. It looks like pure gold, he must really be rich. "So you got married?"  
  
He nods,"Two years ago next week."  
  
"You've really changed alot since I left."  
  
"I still remember that day, I was looking forward so much to coming over to your house. I don't know if you knew, but I had a big crush on you back then."  
  
"Really?" I pretend,"I had no idea."  
  
"Would you like to come inside?"  
  
"Sure."  
  
I walk inside Sheldon's mansion (it really is!). The place is beautiful. Artwork everywhere, Sheldon must have payed a fortune. I can't help but ask,"Sheldon, how did you get to owning a place like this?"  
  
"It's not as complicated as it sounds. As soon as I got out of Tremerton High, with my scholarship, I went to a techical school. I found that carpentry was my forte. For the first time there I thought to myself: 'What if I built a house'. So I did. And they loved it. So I built another, and they loved it!  
  
"Before I knew it, I was building a house every other month. So many that my new wife, Tiffany, suggested that I started a business out of it. I did."  
  
"That's really inspiring, Sheldon."  
  
"Oh! You haven't met Tiffany or Nathaniel yet. Tiffany!" He shouts,"Come in the kitchen! And bring Nathaniel!"  
  
"Yes, dear!" She shouts back.  
  
"She's quite lovely." Sheldon tells me.  
  
A beautiful girl, slightly short, with long black hair walks in with a baby in her arms.  
  
"Tiffany, this is Jenny." Sheldon introduces us.  
  
I immediately realize who it is. "Tiff! You married Tiff Krust!"  
  
"It's Tiff Lee now." She says,"And this is our pride and joy, Nathaniel."  
  
The baby is really quite sweet. He has lovely brown eyes, they remind me of Sheldon's, and fuzzy black hair. His nose is very much like Tiff's, and his ears stand out just like Sheldon's.  
  
The innocence and beauty of that baby is every bit as sweet as the innocence and beauty of life itself.  
  
"This has been a wonderful visit Sheldon." I thank him,"But I think I should stop by Brad's house. Can you give me directions?"  
  
"Sure thing, it's right on this next street over, it's a red brick house-"  
  
"That you built." Tiff says  
  
Sheldon laughs. "It'll have a two car garage and several lawn flamingoes."  
  
I laugh in my head, that sure sounds like Brad.  
  
***  
  
I guess I'll end chapter two here. I've really been writing this thing pretty fast. Can't give away too much in only the second chapter!  
  
I like to write this story, to give you a hint there's a huge surprise involving Mrs. Wakeman in the next chapter. I'm not saying anything else! 


	3. It's a long story

This has to be the right house. Brad's name is written all over it. There's a sprinkler going off in the front, pink plastic lawn flamingoes and two cars in the driveway, One's a ferrari. He told me it was his dream car a long time ago.  
  
How do I explain how many lawn flamingoes there are? Possibly seven or eight, if you count the one with it's head knocked off.  
  
I press the button on the doorbell.  
  
Slowly I see the door open. "Jenny?" a tall man with red hair, obviously Brad, says.  
  
"Brad? Is that you?" I ask.  
  
"Jenny! I can't believe it! We all thought you were dead!!" He takes me into the biggest hug of my life.  
  
"Ahem!" A voice behind us interrupts,"Who is this?"  
  
"Sally, this is my old friend from High School, Jenny. Jenny, Sally, Sally, Jenny." Brad introduces us, the fast way like he always does.  
  
"Nice to meet you." I grab her hand for a friendly shake. She's very pretty, tall and blonde, Brad's type.  
  
"Are you that robot girl everyone has been looking for?"  
  
"Yeah, I suppose."  
  
"Brad's told me quite a bit about you."  
  
"He has?"  
  
"MOMMY MOMMY!!" A little boy behind us yells. "There's a monster!"  
  
"That's no monster, Billy." Brad explains,"That's my old friend, Jenny."  
  
"She's big!! And shiny!!!" He runs away afraid.  
  
"He does that when my mother comes over, too." Sally tells me.  
  
"He's in his terrible twos." Brad says,"Come inside and meet my baby girl."  
  
"I should really get going."  
  
"It'll just take a sec, it's her one week birthday."  
  
"Well...ok." I step inside. Brad's house isn't as nice as Sheldon's, but Brad really has a home in the heart from what I can tell. There are drawings on the walls, most likely Billy's. The carpet has probably aged 30 years while Brad's been living here. The half-dead plants, in my opinion, shows the list of priotities in Brad's mind. Every child should have a father like him.  
  
Sally introduces us,"This little girl, is Jennifer."  
  
Right now, I'm fighting back the tears in my eyes. "Jennifer...how sweet..."  
  
She is adorable, her hair is a strawberry blonde puff on the top of her head. Her eyes are the brightest blue I have ever seen in my whole life, and she has my name.  
  
"Brad, of all the things I've seen on Earth so far, this little girl is the most beautiful one." I say.  
  
"Jenny, it's not a big deal."  
  
I hug him. "Thank you," I whisper into his ear. "I should get going, I haven't seen mom yet."  
  
"Oh...Jenny, no one told you?"  
  
"Told me what?" I ask.  
  
He whispers just two words into my ear, and the world is suddenly alot less beautiful.  
  
***  
  
I'm not sure why I'm here. I've already uncovered my past that I didn't know. Isn't this the part where I wake up and find out that it's a dream? Someone, please wake me up!  
  
If I sit here, clutching this cold hard rock that is the only thing left of my mother, will she come back? If my tears sink into the soil she will be able to touch me again, right? Please, I beg of you, let the winds whisper her voice to me. Let this nightmare be over!  
  
Elizabeth Wakeman, the cold inscribed words say, born 1931 died 2004. Died, such a word, such a cold word. I need her back, give me her! There's a hand on my shoulder. Mom!  
  
"Jenny?"  
  
"Yes Mom! It's me! You can call me XJ9 now, just please talk to me!"  
  
"What are you talking about?"  
  
I turn around, it must be Tuck. That deep voice threw me off. "Tuck?"  
  
"Jenny, you're back."  
  
"I wish I wasn't."  
  
"Oh...you just found out."  
  
"She's gone! Gone forever, I'll never see her again."  
  
"In heaven you will."  
  
"Robots don't go to heaven! We don't die, get old, have children or anything. We're just like rocks."  
  
"Jenny, I always secretly wanted to be you."  
  
"I know, because of the whole 'I'm XJ9 and I'm a superhero' thing."  
  
"No." He says.  
  
I look at him,"Then why? I was always miserable, and crying. I could never do anything without people seeing me as some sort of freak."  
  
"I wanted to be you because you were brave. You would do anything just to protect people. You even rotted in Vexus' tortre chamber for ten years. I'm not going to hesitate to say that you are the greatest soldier on this planet."  
  
I'm crying now. "I'd give that up to just be a normal human."  
  
"Jenny, most people would give up anything to be a teenager forever. Look at me even! I have hair growing on my feet, I sweat like a fat man on a beach and if I drink a milkshake my ass jiggles for a month! Freshan fifteen my ass."  
  
I laugh.  
  
"You're so pretty." He says,"I wish that you and me..."  
  
I'm crying still. "She's looking at me now. I can tell. Mom! I don't remember my last words to you. I don't remember your voice. Please come back!" Tears are soaking down my face. I don't ever remember being this sad in my whole life. "Everyone's so different, and I'm the same."  
  
"You've changed alot." Tuck tells me,"I know people twice as old as you that I wish I didn't know."  
  
He looks me in the eyes. For the first time I see what beautiful eyes he has. He has twelve when I last knew him, now he's twenty-two. He leans into my face. I don't fight it, but I don't embrace it. He kisses me on whatever sort of lips I have. Some guys won't kiss girls with braces because of the metal taste, but Tuck kissed my lips that are made of metal. I know it now, I am in love!  
  
"Are you okay Jenny?"  
  
"Tuck, I love you!"  
  
***  
  
So there you have it. The most unexpected hook up in MLAATR history. If you ask me, some people think that Jenny and Brad are very likely to hook up. I don't think they are. The most obvious romance is between Tuck and Jenny, in my opinion. It's just the way they talk to each other. I could go on and on or I could end. I'll end. 


	4. In Writing

There have been a countless amount of times that I have wanted something, and not been able to have it. Admission into Mezmers, Popularity, Earrings, Siblings and even to be a cheerleader. All of them I can get over, but please! Someone, let me be human for just a day. I won't mess up. To have skin, organs, bones and mortality is all I want. Why does everyone else get that besides me?  
  
"Jenny," Tuck says to me,"Listen, I'm sorry for kissing you."  
  
"Don't be sorry." I say,"I should be sorry. You deserve to kiss real girls. Girls that have skin."  
  
"I have to admit, I do like skin, but I like you more." He grabs my hand. I remember Brit shoke my hand after I saved her, and Sheldon almost never let go of it after he fixed me, but for the first time in my life, someone has grabbed my hand and I've liked it.  
  
"Come back to my house Jenny, I have to give you something."  
  
***  
  
Tuck still lives next door to where I used to live. He lives alone with no pets or anything. "Tuck, whatever happened to my old house?"  
  
"When Mrs.Wakeman died, they thought that you should have it, but everyone thought you were dead, so they tried to track down Mr.Wakeman, but he hasn't been seen around here in years, so they gave it to her sister. She sold the house with my help, I got a ten percent profit but I only took it because I'm a desperate college student." He takes me upstairs in to the attic. "I kept this box here, because I thought you would come for it." He takes out an old cardboard box with the word Wakeman written on the side. "Open it, I've been dying to see what's inside."  
  
"You never opened it?"  
  
"In Mrs.Wakemans will, it said all personal items should be given to you. This was your stuff, I couldn't bring myself to look through your things."  
  
I tear through the lid. The first thing I see is a picture album. I open it up. There are pictures from everything. Starting from when she was four minutes old, to when cancer had her so terribly ill, she was eating through a tube and sleeping on a hospital bed. My mother was like that. For four months in a hospital unable to walk to the door, that's how my strong beautiful mother ended up. I'm crying again. I'll never stop crying. My tears will flood half the Earth before I ever stop mourning.  
  
"It's okay Jenny." Tuck says,"It's okay to miss her. When I thought you were dead, I sat here in this house crying for days. I never thought I would leave. Then one day, my boss threatens to fire me unless I come, so I hurry up and get the hell out of here."  
  
There's a honk from a car outside. I knew I would never forget that sound.  
  
"Jenny!"  
  
I step outside,"Yes Sheldon?"  
  
"I was in the neighborhood and thought I'd stop by."  
  
"How did you know I was here. Don't answer that."  
  
"So, I was thinking that maybe sometime you'd like to get together with me and we could-"  
  
"Sheldon, Stop!" I scream,"I won't let you do this anymore."  
  
"Do what?"  
  
"I won't let you follow me around, or ask me on dates. Don't you understand? The reason you're this successful is because I wasn't there to undirectly distract you. You did great things just using your incredibly smart brain and your crafty hands. Not your stuttering voice or wayward heart. If I ever see you again Sheldon, it will be the end of you."  
  
"But Jenny-"  
  
"No buts! You have a wife and a child, and they both have loved you more while you were gone these twenty minutes than I ever will in my whole life. Can't you see it Sheldon, if you really love me just as much as I think you do, you would not have married Tiff. You would have waited forever for me, but I'm glad you didn't. Please, go and concentrate on your new child. Never again will our two names be used in the same sentence."  
  
"I'll always love you." He says  
  
"A bird cannot love a fish."  
  
"Jenny, You have to send me off with something."  
  
I sigh,"I'll give you this fact Sheldon, you right now, have ten times the amount of love in your life than I'll ever have again. You'll always have someone that will listen to you and love you. You will achieve greater honors from Nathaniel than I'll get from anyone. Never again will you think of me Sheldon, but I will think of you forever and for always."  
  
He waves me goodbye and walks away.  
  
***  
  
I'm sleeping by myself again. This time in a cozy room with a window, in Tuck's house. When I'm finally at the most comfortable time in my life of all the past ten years, I cannot sleep. I grab out mom's box again.  
  
There are alot of books in her box. Her scientific diary which has her log of experiments she created, her address book full of all the places she's ever lived in her life, her baby book capturing all of her first two years, lastly there's her diary. I don't know what to do with it, she can't get mad if I read it, she'll never see me again.  
  
Febuary 4th 1937  
  
I lost my first tooth today.  
  
From when she was six, most of the first few entries are written in scraggly hand-writing with too many spelling errors to count.  
  
October 18th 1948  
  
Dad gave me the keys to the car today. I've only been begging him for like five hundred years!  
  
Her teenage self sounds a little like me. She talks alot about her love for science.  
  
June 3rd 1950  
  
I'm a free woman now. I graduated High school today and we had a super bitching graduation party. Can't wait for college. Yale, here I come! With my science projects, they can't turn me down.  
  
June 5th 1950  
  
I got a rejection letter from Princeton. I can do without those snobby-assed tightwads. But I can't get rejected from Yale!  
  
June 6th 1950  
  
My worst nightmare has come true. I got rejected from Yale. Where can I go? I have a 2.5 GPA and 1050 on my SAT, no one will let me in. No one!  
  
She seemed really frustrated about college. She must not have gotten very good grades. It sounds like she barely passed High School.  
  
June 8th 1950  
  
I made up my mind on college. There's this place in California called Tremerton University. I never pictured myself going to a small town college like that, but what choice do I have? They're the only place that excepted me!  
  
She has a few entries on how she was packing for college and all her friends were going to different colleges.  
  
August 19th 1950  
  
Said goodbye to my folks and my friends. I'm on the train to Tremerton right now. I'll leave as soon as college is over. I'm not wasting my whole life there.  
  
Later  
  
I just arrived at my dorm. I'm boarding with some Kelly May Jones. I couldn't care less.  
  
Mom talks about her four years in college.  
  
March 14th 1953   
  
I took a class on robotics. It seems pretty cool, actually.  
  
April 5th 1953  
  
I completed my first robot project. I'm calling it XJ1.  
  
June 21st 1955  
  
I graduated. This place is starting to grow on me, I think I'm gonna try to find a house. A big one, next door to some good people.  
  
June 22nd 1955  
  
I found it, made a payment, and now I have my own place. My neighbors are pretty cool. Some guy and a lady and their baby.  
  
The baby mom talks about must be Brad's father.  
  
January 18th 1956  
  
I met the man of my dreams today. He's so tall and he has brown hair. I love him so much.  
  
August 12th 1956  
  
He proposed and I said yes. I'll be married soon!  
  
August 20th 1956  
  
Our wedding is tomorrow. I don't know if I can sleep tonight.  
  
She writes so much on her husband, but she never mentions his name.  
  
August 22nd 1956  
  
I am now Elizabeth Ann Wakeman, wife of Roy Jones Wakeman.  
  
That's his name! I can call city hall and they can give the house to him and-  
  
Or maybe not. Maybe Mom doesn't want him to have anything that was hers. Mom wants me to have all this. She wants me to remember her. She wants us to be together in the greatest way possible.  
  
December 7th 1998  
  
I started to create my latest robot, XJ9.  
  
That's me!  
  
August 29th 1999  
  
She's alive! XJ9 can walk, talk, think for herself and thousands of other things. She's my teenage robot.  
  
She writes about me more than anything. I never really grasped how much she loved me.  
  
May 23rd 2003  
  
I have not seen XJ9 since she went to fight the cluster making mayhem on the other side of town. She better not be with a boy, unless it's that wonderful child Sheldon.  
  
Mom! You actually thought that?  
  
May 25th 2003  
  
It's been days since I've seen XJ9. Where could she be? If she were back I'd call her Jenny, that's all she wanted.  
  
She was very worried about me. She would have done anything to have me back. I feel the same way about her right now, it's ironic, really.  
  
May 30th 2003  
  
For a week XJ9 has been missing. The whole town is in shreds. She was our savior, it was as if she was heaven-sent!  
  
June 1st 2003  
  
They've given my beautiful daught XJ9 up for dead. Oh, how I miss her!  
  
November 21st 2003  
  
Today I was diagnosed with cancer in my colon. I have no strength to write.  
  
February 2nd 2004  
  
I'm starting kemotherapy, and not feeling any better. Groundhogs day.  
  
There are no more entries. I know that mom died about a month later. There's a trifolded piece of paper slipped between the next two pages. It's a letter to me.  
  
My Dearest Daughter Jennifer,  
  
You were the most beautiful creature on this Earth. You were years ahead of your time. How could I not have given you everything you asked for? I too have made mistakes in my life. I do not wish to mention them here, I only wish that you will read this and know I loved you. I always had you saving the world, I enclosed you in your room. Outside of chores you never did anything. Why you put up with me I don't know. I've read Rapunzel, I should never have done what I did. For all I know, you're dead. I may just be speaking to myself. Telling myself I didn't mean my last words to you. "XJ9! Take care of this mess downtown this instant young lady!" And you said,"Okay mom." Our last conversation! I wish I could speak to you. I wish I was able to see you. It must have hurt you so badly when I disapproved all the time. Now that you're gone I understand! For all my labors I got you for a daughter. I didn't deserve to have you. All I wanted was the fame. I saw the headlines as I created you, 'Local Scientist Creates World-Saving Robot!'. I did not think that I would have to actually deal with feelings. I thought I would be a hero. You made me a hero, not like I thought I would be, but I still felt important. Your dependance upon me was the greatest gift I ever received. I could not have asked for anything better in my life.  
  
Love Your Mother, Mrs.Wakeman  
  
Right now I feel inside me a burning heat. I feel a warmth in my heart. One that isn't dying, I feel mom's life inside of me. She isn't dead for real, it's all in my head. She's here and she's inside of me. It does not matter, the words I never said, or the truths I never told, she knows that I was to her as paintings were to Van Gogh.  
  
***  
  
The next chapter will be the fifth and last. I would like to add that I have started a yahoo group, the link is on my author's page. Just click the thing on top that says La Miseria Y La Muerte (that's my pen name!) and there should be a link. Please join! 


	5. Hope

50 years since then, and I'm still a teenager.  
  
I grew old, just like everyone else. I didn't change, but robots did. They got faster, and I looked slower. They got stronger, and now I look weak. They got smarter, and I seem stupid. They got better powers and gadgets, and I look wimpy.  
  
There's nothing for me to do besides look out the window and watch the world change.  
  
I haven't seen Sheldon since he was eighty, and in a coffin. Tiff was there, I've never actually seen her cry, besides then. I thought she only married Sheldon for the money, but from the way she looked, she really did love him. She's old and gray and about to die now. Nathaniel is fifty, and age has taken him.  
  
Brad and Sally both died. Sally when she was seventy-nine and Brad when he was seventy-six. Billy is fifty-two, Jenny is fifty, they're almost like children to me.   
  
Jenny ended up marrying Nathaniel and together they had three children: Paula, Stefani and Mark, the youngest, he was born three years before Brad died. Paula is now engaged, Stefani is four months pregnant and Mark is going through a divorce.   
  
Billy never married, and he didn't have to. He's under age's spell also. I hope he doesn't regret anything.  
  
I went to my class reunion several years ago. They let me come, even though I didn't actually graduate.  
  
I found out what happened Brit. She married Don, and one night, after his annual party, they were drunk and driving in the fog and then no one ever saw them again. They had no children.  
  
Tuck never married. We lived together for all this time. I told him he could marry if he wanted to, I would not feel rejected. He told me that he couldn't marry someone else if he loved me. I wish I could feel the beat of a heart and have it be my own.  
  
I feel bad for them all, I'll be able to see Brad and Sheldon's grandchildren and their grandchildren, and watch them grow up. I'll be able to see them a hundred years from now.  
  
I received many honors for my ten years of service. I'd give up all of them in a second to be human. I'd give up my arms. I'd give up anything. Skin, I want it so bad.  
  
Watching the world outside my window, watching the clouds go by and the birds singing.  
  
I've hired every scientist there is, asked him to make me human. None of them can do it. Why I keep asking them to bend the laws of nature I don't know.  
  
After Tuck dies I'll be alone. If he had children I could live with them. It's too late for that though. Too late for so many things.  
  
This is probably the bleakest time of my life, and Vexus has come back. She lands right in my living room.  
  
"What is it?" I say.  
  
She laughs."XJ9, you've grown so old."  
  
"I wish."  
  
"It makes me laugh. You are now one of the most worthless robots on the planet. Come to the cluster and get the respect you deserve."  
  
"Vexus, why do you still bother? I'm over fifty years old, I couldn't help your cluster any bit and you know it."  
  
"Robots never grow old!"  
  
"Ain't it the truth."  
  
"You must join!"  
  
"Fine. Take me."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Take me back to your cluster again. I'll come back in ten years and see that my life has taken a huge turn again. Can't be any worse."  
  
She glares."You said if I come back that you'll do your worst. You've done nothing besides look out that window."  
  
"The funny thing about the world is that it changes so fast and so quickly. No one ever notices anything changing in the world, but I will. I'll notice everything. You'll never see a single thing on this planet change, ever. You'll never appreciate humans, or study them as I do. You'll only see robots. The same old ones everyday. I'd choose one human over a thousand robots."  
  
"You are a robot XJ9!"  
  
I want to cry."I know, but it hurts."  
  
"You must come with me! I'm forcing you!"  
  
"Okay."  
  
"Okay?"  
  
"Just let me write a letter." I grab a pen and some paper.  
  
To Tuck:  
  
You waited so long for me. A robot who could never give you anything you wanted. I wish I could have done something for you. By the time you see me again...that might never happen.  
  
To Tiff:  
  
You judged me. You hated me. You labeled me. You married the man that loved me. I hope that when you die, you will have all your dreams fullfilled.  
  
To Billy:  
  
Watch your grandnieces and nephews. Never change. Do everything you ever wanted to do. I first saw you when you were two. Never in a million years had I thought you would end up as you did.  
  
To Nathaniel and Jennifer Lee:  
  
Love and let love. You have your first grandchild coming. Please make sure she has all the love she needs.  
  
To Paula:  
  
Get married and be with the one you love forever.  
  
To Stefani:  
  
I watched you grow up. Now you watch your child grow up.  
  
To Mark:  
  
It is better to have loved and lost. Take it from someone who has.  
  
"I'm ready, Vexus."  
  
She grabs my arms and starts flying me to the Cluster planet. "Why aren't you trying to fly away?"  
  
"I can't. I never fixed my rockets since you broke them the last time. Mom always did my repairs."  
  
***  
  
Trapped in the cluster again. It has to have been five years since I came here. I don't know how long I'll be here. In a way, I don't feel any different. Except this time, there's a hole in the ceiling and I can see the stars every night. So maybe there's a little hope.  
  
***  
  
This was originally supposed to be the last chapter, but I feel bad for not updating for a week. It's not my fault, I had no internet access because our computer was getting fixed. Anyway, I'm making the story between 8-10 chapters long now. so, yeah... 


	6. Eyes

"Wake up!"  
  
"Oh, I thought I was dead."  
  
"That can be arranged."  
  
"Who are you?" I lift my head up. It's Vexus. "Can you really kill me? Can you really send me to heaven?"  
  
She laughs.  
  
I sigh. "What do you want now?"  
  
"You have to join the cluster. Now!"  
  
"No. I won't."  
  
She glares. "You have no choice." Her cold voice tells me,"If you do not join the cluster, I will make you a human! And my personal slave."  
  
"Vexus," I say,"For over fifty years I've been wishing I was a human. I've asked the most powerful scientists out there to bend the laws of nature for me. Now you're telling me that you can figure out the last digit in pi? Can you count to infinity? Can you stop time? Can you walk on water? Any of those would be easier than making me a human."  
  
"You doubt me?" All of a sudden, she isn't Vexus anymore. Just a bright light shining in my eyes.  
  
I'm squinting. "Who are you?"  
  
"I am the most powerful force in the universe. I know everything and am capable of doing anything."  
  
"Am I dead?"  
  
"Do you want to be?"  
  
"I don't think so."  
  
"Then you aren't. Death is just mind over matter. If you believe you are dead, then you're dead."  
  
"Have you come for me?"  
  
"Jenny Wakeman, I'm going to make one wish come true for you."  
  
"Me? Why me?"  
  
"Do you know how long you've been waititng at the cluster?"  
  
"Five years?"  
  
"Twenty."  
  
"Twenty!"  
  
"Yes, plus the ten years you waited so long ago, that's thirty. Thirty years of your life you sacrificed for all mortal humans. I have never seen this before, ever."  
  
"I get one wish?"  
  
"Choose carefully."  
  
"I know what it is though. I've known it for so long." Deep breath, Jenny. Say it. "I wish I was a mortal human girl!"  
  
A bolt of lightning before my eyes. A flash of red and then purple then blue. I hear laughs and screams and cries. I'm falling. Falling so quickly into a never ending spiral. I scream and open my eyes. I'm sitting here. Where am I? I think this is my room in Tuck's house. But...it seems different.  
  
I blink. That's strange, why did I do that? I'm gasping, quickly I inhale. Inhale? Did I just breathe? But I don't have lungs...  
  
I have to grab the mirror. Did it really happen? Am I really...one quick glance. Yes! I am human! I'm a human girl with lungs and eyes and a heart and everything!  
  
"Ahhh!" I scream. I'm so excited! All the things I could never do before!  
  
Hands. Skin. Blood. Breathe, Jenny. Don't get too excited. I'm grabbing the side of the bed for support now. I can't fall over and bruise myself already.  
  
"What is it Jenny? I heard screaming." Tuck says. But it's not Tuck...it's Tuck from fifty years ago. I get to relive the past fifty years, too!  
  
"Tuck! I'm human!"  
  
"Yeah, I know."  
  
"You know? I've only known for a few minutes!"  
  
"What are you doing, sweetie?"  
  
"Sweetie? Why are you calling me that?"  
  
"Is the blonde getting to you today, Jenny?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"Look at your ring finger."  
  
A diamond ring. "We're married?"  
  
"And you call me forgetful for not remembering your birthday. We're engaged. Honestly Jenny, what is wrong with you?"  
  
"Uh, just...nerves."  
  
"Relax, the wedding isn't for another six months." He leaves.  
  
Right then I notice the one difference in the room: a queen size bed.  
  
***  
  
Oh my! Jenny Jenny Jenny...I didn't want to do that. Why did you make me have to write that? 


	7. Inlaws

I can finally see myself now. Blonde hair, real hair, not made of metal with satelittes on the insides, real blonde hair, strands and strands of them.  
  
My eyes are blue. A sky blue almost, they remind me of the ocean a little.  
  
Describing the rest of me would be too difficult. I could not without sounding arrogant and vain. I'll leave it at this, I have two hands, five fingers on each, and two feet, five toes on each. That's good enough for me.  
  
Food is wonderful. Taste is a sense totally unknown to me, and I like it. I like it alot. Deciding what food I want for my wedding has been great. I'd like a big ceaser salad, or salmon, definitely cherry pie.  
  
My wedding will be marvelous. I've been looking at veils, I'd like one with a flower front to it. Purple lilacs. That sounds heavenly.  
  
I'm overwhelmed by this new humanity. I'm overwhelmed by everything.  
  
"Come on Jenny." Tuck's saying.  
  
"What?"  
  
"We're going to Brad's house to talk about the wedding."  
  
"Our wedding?"  
  
Tuck's rolling his eyes. "Uh, duh."  
  
I'm walking out to the car when Tuck asks me.  
  
"Jenny, you wanna drive?"  
  
"Me?"  
  
"You're the only Jenny here."  
  
"Uh, sure." I've never driven a car before.  
  
It can't be that difficult. Don't hit anything, and just park in the driveway. I know the way to Brad's, just relax Jen, you'll be fine.  
  
Key in the ignition. Good start. Put it in drive. Doing good. Press the gas. Easy, Easy, good.  
  
Turn left, right, straight, right. Keep going.  
  
I don't remember what went wrong. Somewhere between Brad's driveway and our driveway I ran through a fence and dented the bumper. I wonder who's mailbox that is on the hood of the car.  
  
"Okay, maybe I'll drive home." Tuck tells me.  
  
"Good idea." Walking into Brad's house. Walking, much easier.  
  
"Jenny, Tuck, come in." Brad says.  
  
Apparently we were never friends in High School. I was never a cool life-saving robot who gave him a jet pack, so I guess he never thought I was much interesting.  
  
Brad still has the same house. His son's name is Peter now, and his daughter is Mary Ann. I suppose I'm just his sister-in-law.  
  
"Sally! Jen and Tuck are here!"  
  
She comes out. Same Sally I knew before. Same blonde hair, same high heels. Same everything.  
  
"What do they want?"  
  
"Plan the wedding."  
  
"Oh, whatever." She stubs out her cigarette.  
  
"Guess what I just got?" Brad says to Tuck.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Speedboat."  
  
"No way! I gotta see it." They leave us alone.  
  
I open up the catalog of Bridesmaid dresses. "I was thinking ruby red would look nice."  
  
She laughs. "Listen, when thinking about Bridesmaid dresses you have to automatically think blue and purple."  
  
"Blue and purple?"  
  
"C'mon, ruby red?" She laughs.  
  
"I guess that blue or purple would be okay..."  
  
"Did you plan food?"  
  
"I was thinking a ceaser salad."  
  
"Skip the greens. You can get a ceaser salad at McDonalds sweety. Fish and Chicken."  
  
"Fish and Chicken? I don't even like that stuff."  
  
"Stop thinking about you, there are two people getting married."  
  
"Tuck's allergic to fish."  
  
"Oh, quit whining. Who's taking care of flowers?"  
  
"I'm taking care of almost everything."  
  
"What were you thinking about?"  
  
"Roses"  
  
"Jenny, Tuck is a computer advisor and you're a kindergarten teacher. You guys can't afford roses! You're still in debt from when you went to California State!"  
  
"What do you think we should use?"  
  
"Something that doesn't clash with the outfits for the bouquets." She's thinking. "I got it, poppies."  
  
"Poppies?"  
  
"It's perfect!"  
  
"Not for me."  
  
"You totally have to wear your hair up."  
  
"It's not even that long."  
  
"Get extensions."  
  
"I don't need fake hair..."  
  
"It'll look so pretty!"  
  
***  
  
We spent hours talking. I thought it was my wedding! I only needed to talk about Bridesmaid dresses with Sally, not the whole wedding! I don't care what she says about St.Paul's Baptist church, I'm a catholic and I'm getting married at the Elizabeth Catholic church. The only way to stop me is to burn the church down!  
  
I'm glad that we eventually got to leave.  
  
"We'll see you guys." I wave goodbye.  
  
Sitting in the car now, I have a huge headache from Sally. "Did you and Brad make any decisions?"  
  
"Yeah, I think we're goin' with black for the tux color, and we're all gonna wear ties. How'd you and Sally do?"  
  
"She made alot of decisions, and she rejected all of mine! Honestly, I thought it was my wedding, not Sally's! I do not care what she says, I'm having a ceaser salad and red roses at my wedding or my name isn't Jennifer Wakeman!"  
  
"Our wedding"  
  
"Whatever!"  
  
He puts his arm over my shoulders. "You'll feel better after a night of you-know-what."  
  
I sigh.  
  
***  
  
I have never slept in the same bed as anyone before, except me and my eight sisters one time. But this was totally different.  
  
"Jenny! You coming to bed or not?"  
  
"I have to brush my teeth."  
  
"You just brushed them ten minutes ago."  
  
"They're still dirty."  
  
"No they're not, just come on!"  
  
I hesitated, but got into the bed.  
  
He stares at me. "Well?"  
  
"Well what?"  
  
"Wait I'm confused, is this some kind of foreplay?"  
  
"OH MY GOD!" I quickly get up. "Is that what you want?! Pervert!"  
  
"But we do that every week! Sometimes twice."  
  
"We do?"  
  
"Duh."  
  
"Well, I don't like it anymore."  
  
"Oh dear god." He falls back. "Okay, what do I need to do?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"Is the garage door broken again?"  
  
"What on Earth are you talking about?"  
  
"A leaky faucet?"  
  
I'm just staring at him.  
  
"Whatever it is I'll fix it after work."  
  
"Do you think I'd hold out just to get something fixed?"  
  
"You've done it before."  
  
"It's wrong!"  
  
"Welcome to my world."  
  
"All of it's wrong!"  
  
"But I thought you liked foreplay."  
  
"AHH!!" I say out of exasperation. "I'm sleeping on the couch!"  
  
I stomp downstairs. "Wait!" Tuck calls,"I thought that you're supposed to kick me out!"  
  
"Forget it!" I lay down on the couch. I never noticed before, but California can get pretty cold.  
  
***  
  
:O!  
  
Doesn't look like I get a Christmas present from Santa. I was naughty this year!  
  
The fact that I actually touched this angle surprises me. Dirty!  
  
I've been doing tons and tons of drawings of Jenny lately. I have to start my website soon.  
  
There's this cool site out there, it's matmice.com/mylifeasateenagerobot Go visit it, it's pretty cool.  
  
I've been reading some of the MLAATR fanfics out there. They're pretty awesome. Keep on writing you guys, we need our own section! 


	8. Reflections

Is that what everyone thinks of me? I feel so objectified. I feel pushed around. I'm so mad I want to scream. I want to tear apart the walls and fly away.  
  
Who am I kidding, I can't fly or rip things apart like I used to be able to do. There are a lot of things that I couldn't do before, though. Breathe, eat, lots of stuff. I have no regrets, right?  
  
***  
  
Coffee this morning was a bummer. I didn't say anything, really.  
  
"Jenny, I'm real sorry about last night."  
  
"S'okay" But it's not.  
  
"I'll make it up to you."  
  
"You don't have to." Yes he does.  
  
"Dinner, tonight. Just you and me."  
  
"I'm fine." I'm not.  
  
He kisses me on the cheek and he's gone for work.  
  
***  
  
If so many people live this way, then why is it so bad? Why do I feel like I'm being taken advantage of? Why does it seem like no one cares about my feelings? Why am I so miserable if this is what I asked for?  
  
The phone rings.  
  
"Hello?"  
  
"May I speak to Jenny?"  
  
"This is."  
  
"Jenny...it's Sheldon."  
  
Oh dear god!  
  
***  
  
I'm going over to visit Sheldon, casserole in hand. I'm knocking on the door.  
  
"Jenny?"  
  
"Hi Sheldon, can I come in?"  
  
"Sure." He says. I can tell he's still in love.  
  
I take my first step in. He's not rich anymore, I wonder why not. Lee Homes isn't a business anymore, and he's not married to Tiff. There's no Nathaniel either. What happened to him? He's jobless, poor and broken.  
  
"I'm glad you're here Jenny, I have to tell you something." He says.  
  
"I brought you a casserole."  
  
"That's great, but I need to tell you this, right now."  
  
It's probably a plea not to marry Tuck. I hope he doesn't start crying.  
  
"Jenny..." He hesitates,"Well, money's kinda tight and I don't think I can rent a Tux for the wedding."  
  
What?  
  
"So, if I could just borrow one of Tuck's..."  
  
"Hold it, you're not gonna beg me not to marry Tuck?"  
  
"No."  
  
"You're not gonna start pleading about how you love me so much!"  
  
"No."  
  
"You're not gonna crawl on your knees and pray for my hand in marriage!"  
  
"No, why would I do that?"  
  
"Because you've been in total and complete lust with me for ten years!"  
  
"No I haven't."  
  
I'm shocked. Sheldon loved XJ9, not Jennifer Wakeman. How shallow!  
  
"You'd love me if I was a robot." I tell him.  
  
"What are you talking about?"  
  
"Forget it!" I stomp out the door. "I'll give Tuck the message." I slam the door closed.  
  
"Uh...thanks?"  
  
***  
  
"I can't believe it!" I shout as I walk in. "Sheldon doesn't love me anymore! That is so shallow!"  
  
"So now that you don't have him, you want him?"  
  
A mysterious voice! I'm looking around. "Who said that?"  
  
"Jenny, you don't remember me?"  
  
"Why are you in my house?"  
  
"I made you who you are today!"  
  
"Mother?"  
  
"I turned you into a human!"  
  
"Oh dear God! You're that super-being."  
  
"No, I'm just capable of all things."  
  
"Are you going to kill me?"  
  
"I'm not a barbarian."  
  
I'm afraid. "What do you want from me? Am I a bad human? Please let me stay this way!"  
  
"You can be whoever you want Jenny Wakeman."  
  
I hesitate. "Can I ask you something?"  
  
"Yes you may."  
  
"Why doesn't Sheldon love me?"  
  
He sighs. "Love is so complex. I know everything there is to know anywhere, but love? How can you write love in a pen, or speak it in words? How can you make or understand love?"  
  
"Is Sheldon shallow?"  
  
"No, not shallow. There must have been something about you before that you don't have now."  
  
The skin on my hands, how evil is it? "I remember when I first met him. I had this screw loose, this one right-" I'm about to point to it when I remember it was replaced my bone tissue. "Oh, yeah. Anyway, I remember I went to get it repaired. The shop teacher asked Sheldon to do it. He was getting beat up by some bullies so I took care of them and then-" I gasp. That's it!! "Sheldon didn't love me because I was a robot. He loved me because I was brave! At least XJ9 was brave. I'm just a coward in someone else's skin."  
  
"I would not have given such a prestiguous honor to a coward. Everything you have you earned with hard work and nothing short of that."  
  
"He was so broken and cold. Why isn't he rich anymore?"  
  
"That I know. When Mrs.Wakeman was trying to create a new robot to save the world, she blew a hole in her wall. She knew how depressed Sheldon was about losing you, so she decided to give him the work to try and cheer him up. After he finished fixing the wall, she complimented his worksmanship and asked him if he'd ever thought about home building before. He hadn't before, but he did alot after that."  
  
"So my being a robot affected everyone around me. It's like a chain reaction." I pause. "What ever happened to Brit and Tiff?"  
  
He hesitates. "It's a long story."  
  
"I got time."  
  
"You, Brit and Tiff were best friends."  
  
"We were?"  
  
"Yes. If anyone's shallow, they are."  
  
I feel ashamed.  
  
"One day, Brit thought it would be funny to stick honey in Tiff's hair. You laughed at the idea, not the fact that it actually happened."  
  
"I did?"  
  
"Yes. Tiff didn't know about it at first, but while she was walking home, she got stung by two bees."  
  
"So?"  
  
"She's allergic to bee stings."  
  
I'm very pale.  
  
"She went to the doctor, but it ended up being to late. They said it was a combination of the bee stings, and not taking her allergy medicine."  
  
I shook my head. "It's all my fault. If I hadn't laughed..."  
  
"Jenny, this was you before you got control."  
  
I look up. "How did all this happen before I got control?"  
  
"Do you remember when you turned into a human?"  
  
"Yeah. I'll never forget."  
  
"Well, millions of decisions ran straight through your mind in a split second. The outcome was fuzzy, but it was good enough."  
  
I feel sick. "I killed Tiff. I'm a murderer!"  
  
"Calm down, Brit did the dirty work."  
  
I'm crying. "I influenced her."  
  
"Do you want to know what happened to Brit?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"She married Don."  
  
"Really?"  
  
"On the night Tuck proposed to you, Don had the same plan. He'd been in love with since High School. You had gone out with him, but dumped him after a few months. He was a wreck after the break-up, and he planned to marry you as soon as possible."  
  
"I dumped Don Prima?"  
  
"Yes you did."  
  
"Am I crazy?!"  
  
"You're just madly in love with Tuck."  
  
I guess it's true. I feel love right now.  
  
"Don turned to desparity and took advantage of the drunken Brit. He married her privately.  
  
"Man, they must have been wasted."  
  
"They divorced a couple years ago."  
  
"They're both still alive?"  
  
"Yes, but rather beat up healthwise."  
  
It's at this moment I turn to the left, facing the mirror on the wall. I expected to see my blonde human self staring back at me, but I saw XJ9, the robot instead. "Oh my god!" I scream. "Why is she my reflection?"  
  
"Jenny, you can't hide from yourself. Tuck may not know, Brad may not know, but you know. You know who are on the inside, and you can't hide from yourself."  
  
"Would you change me back into a robot if I wanted you to?"  
  
"I would, but I don't think you'd want to."  
  
"I'll put some thought into it."  
  
***  
  
I put alot of thought into it, six months of thought. Even while I was planning my wedding XJ9 was in my head. It's funny how she's XJ9 and I'm Jennifer Wakeman, but we're both the same.  
  
It's not like I meant to think of her, or me, whoever XJ9 is. Every time I looked at my reflection she would be there, looking right back at me. Every time I would look down at my hands to make sure they were still made of skin and flesh and they were, every time. Several times I even cut myself to make sure I still had blood in me.  
  
It was hard picking out a dress. Whenever I looked in the mirror XJ9 would be there, whenever he styled my hair she was there, he always asked me how I liked it, and I never knew. I wish she would go away, I wish she would leave me and Tuck alone. It's not as if she was intruding, she just stood there. She never goes away. Even now, on the day of my wedding, she's in the church mirror.  
  
"Are you ready for this?" Brit, my maid of honor, asks me.  
  
"Yea, I'm ready." I say. I wish Tiff could be here.  
  
"Hey Jenny."  
  
"Brad!" I scream,"What are you doing here?"  
  
"Hey, I'm just the best man, not the groom. I get to take a look, don't I?"  
  
I giggle. "Oh, you go talk to Tuck, I'm sure he's nervous."  
  
"Tuck? Nervous? He's way beyond nervous, Jen. The kids afraid of giant wheels, for pete's sake! Marriage is gonna have him melted into his shoes." Brad tips his hat,"G'day m'ladies." Then he leaves.  
  
Brit laughs. "You know, all of us always expected you and Brad to go out and then get married."  
  
"You did?" I say, in shock. "Gosh, I never even thought about it."  
  
"It's true, you two were the 'will they won't they' couple of Tremerton High. People always talked about it."  
  
"How come I didn't know about this?"  
  
"Oh please, who was going to tell you? Sheldon?"  
  
I laugh, nervously.  
  
I hear something snap. "Oh damnit all, I broke a nail. Excuse me while I go fix this." Brit leaves.  
  
XJ9 is looking back at me in the mirror. She's wearing my veil and my dress. "What do you want?" I ask her. She just stares at me. "Well, what is it?" I ask again. "Don't look so fed up with me, you always wanted Tuck, too. I know you did, I am you! You can't blame me for liking him, he's so wonderful. When I'm not with him, I really want to be right next to him."  
  
There's a knock on the door.  
  
"Come in." I say.  
  
"Jenny?" It's Sheldon.  
  
"Hi Sheldon."  
  
"Jen, I just wanted to say thanks for borrowing me the tux, and not telling anyone about my rough times."  
  
"It's fine, really." I turn to him. "Sheldon, are you sure that you're okay that me and Tuck are getting married?"  
  
"Yeah, why wouldn't I be okay with it?"  
  
"Never mind."  
  
"Thanks again." He leaves.  
  
It's funny how I miss him. I thought he was the most annoying little geek ever, but now I miss his annoying-ness.  
  
Brit comes back. "I fixed it as best I could, as long as I don't have to put the ring on your finger I'll be okay."  
  
I laugh, it's an out of place laugh, but I'm really nervous.  
  
"Jenny, come on." Brad whispers through the door.  
  
"Oh my god! It's time!" I rush down the stairs to right outside of the entrance.  
  
"Remember what we rehearsed." Brit whispers as she walks up the aisle.  
  
As soon as all the bridesmaids and ushers and even Mary Ann, the flower girl, walk up that long aisle, it's my turn.  
  
The music swells, the people stare, I'm soaked in my own sweat, but I know I'll be all right. Tuck would never let anything bad happen to me. Me?  
  
I remember one of mom's last words to me. She said,"XJ9, sometimes it's not all about you."  
  
I never took her words seriously before, but now they make sense. Some people can spend their whole lives making themselves happy, but all those people around you that are poor, heart-broken, betrayed, unappreciated or suffering, will bring you down back to where you started. With all the people around you that would like a new start, or better luck, or something. You can give them nothing. I can though.  
  
I realized it now. Sheldon is poor because I'm not a robot. Brad is in an unloving relationship. Tuck is neglectful now. Don and Brit were miserable. Tiff is dead. Everyone's miserable and even I'm questioning things so often now. Saving the Earth and protecting mankind just seems like a better path to go down than this aisle in a church.  
  
I wish I could tell Tuck just how much I love him first, but he knows. He'll be fine without me, I know he will.  
  
I stare up at the ceiling. "Are you there?" I shout, people watching me.  
  
"Yes," He answers,"What is it?"  
  
So many eyes watching me.  
  
"I love you, Tuck!"  
  
"I love you too, Jenny."  
  
"Please! Turn me into a robot again!"  
  
I'm in the space I was when I turned into a human. I never got a real feel of it before. It's vast, cold and dark. Why isn't anything happening?  
  
"XJ9, or Jenny, you have to make a decision. I can only bend the laws of nature a few times, but you must decide. Skin or metal."  
  
Closing my eyes. "There comes a time in every person's life, when they have to choose who they are. I choose to be XJ9 the teenage robot."  
  
I said it, so therefore I am.  
  
***  
  
HOLD IT!!! I WANT TO KNOW THE ENDING!!! WHY DO I HAVE TO STOP HERE!!!! NOOOOO!!!! EVEN I'M MAD AT THE SUSPENSE!! 


	9. Sweet love

6:00  
  
Sleep mode disabled  
  
Good Morning Self!  
  
The flashing red words told me I was a robot again.  
  
"XJ9! Get ready for school!"  
  
Those words told me Mom was back.  
  
"Morning Mom." I tell her.  
  
"Your equipment is over there-" She points to my backpack, "And last night I tuned up your jetpacks while you were asleep."  
  
"Thanks mom." I am grateful she's alive, but I don't want to upset or confuse her by telling her of what happened. I just smile and walk out with my backpack, grateful she's still here.  
  
***  
  
I feel a sudden urge to talk to Sheldon. Now that I understand everything, there are words he has to hear.  
  
Normally he greets me first thing, in the weirdest way he knows.  
  
Oh no, this means-  
  
"HI JENNY!"  
  
-sneak attack.  
  
"Sheldon I need to tell you something-" Bell rings  
  
He's gone for his class and so is everyone else. I'm just standing here like a mindless idiot.  
  
***  
  
I finally track him down after first period.  
  
"Sheldon!" I'm still lost for words. They'd be meaningless to him, though. I just stand there in front of his locker and lay my lips on his for a long, yet meaningless, amount of time.  
  
He just stands there, dumbfounded.  
  
"Sheldon, I have to tell you something-"  
  
"Does this mean you're finally my girlfriend?!"  
  
"No, isn't it-"  
  
"What?"  
  
"No, that meant absolutely nothing!"  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"I just have to tell you this Sheldon, we'll never be together, ever!"  
  
"Well then why'd you-"  
  
"Listen, you'll be so happy someday, and I'll be miserable! You'll be able to afford all of the things you'd ever want, and I'll be an unappreciated saver of human lives."  
  
"I'd give all that up just to be miserable with you."  
  
"You'd be miserable with me?"  
  
"Wait, I didn't mean that the way it sounded."  
  
"I know what you meant Sheldon, and I'm not changing my mind. I'm not a human, you're not a robot, I think I'm the only one that crossed that bridge, though."  
  
"Jenny, this is crazy! Whether you're human or not isn't what I'm concerned with. I just love you so much."  
  
"It's not worth it, Sheldon. I'm not worth it! Look at me, I'm solid metal, I'm incredibly shallow, I'm so vain, and to top it all off, I don't care!"  
  
"I don't care either! Just say you love me!"  
  
"Sheldon, you'll have such a nice life. I'll envy you. You can't marry me though, it wouldn't be right."  
  
"Jenny, please, give me something!"  
  
"I kissed you, and you'll never forget it."  
  
"Is this good-bye?"  
  
I shake my head. "We never even said hello."  
  
He waves and then goes off down the long hallway. He screams, "I'll never stop loving you!" and that's the only time he ever turned back.  
  
***  
  
"Hi Mom!" I said.  
  
"Good afternoon, XJ9"  
  
It doesn't bother me that she won't call me Jenny.  
  
"I have to go practice my reflexes downstairs." I tell her.  
  
"I'll go find some motor oil for you."  
  
I quick rush downstairs. I have to aim and shoot before mom gets here. That exact spot on the wall, that's what Sheldon needs to repair. I stick a paperclip in my laser gun, I must thank Brit and Tiff for the idea. The laser goes biserk, and there's a huge hole in the wall.  
  
"XJ9! What's all that racket!"  
  
I shake the paperclip out. "Malfunction!"  
  
"Oh my goodness!" She runs downstairs. "There's a giant hole in the wall!"  
  
"We better get that fixed." I say coyly.  
  
"Excellent idea, I'll call a repairman-"  
  
"I know someone who would do it for free." I try to catch her attention.  
  
"He couldn't be any good." She hesitates. "Who is it?"  
  
"Sheldon, boy at my school. He would be great. He's one of them shop kids. Waddya say?"  
  
"Well...money's not like it used to be."  
  
"Great!" I load my address book. "Here's his number, his address, his social security number, his locker combo, everything."  
  
I put my hand to my ear. "Is that the emergency siren?" I pretend.  
  
"Doesn't sound like anything." Mom says.  
  
"I think it does, it sounds like, uh, water pollution? Yeah, water pollution. In, um, France? Yeah, France. Well, gotta go. Emergencies, that's my thing. Bye mom!" I zoom out.  
  
"Water pollution in France? That's not an emergency. Oh well, better call this Sheldon boy."  
  
***  
  
"Hey, Everybody! Zee robot girl is finally here! We've been sending out that emergency signal forevah!"  
  
"Bonjour Madame Robot! Please, help us with zee water pollution!"  
  
"Oh please!" I say, "I don't have enough free time to help you with water pollution! I still have three years of school left!"  
  
I sat down on a rock. I hadn't came here to help anyone. I just couldn't be there when Sheldon was. If everything went right, our eyes would never catch gaze, and our names would never be used in the same breath of air, ever again.  
  
***  
  
Prologue  
  
***  
  
Everything turned out right.  
  
Sheldon married Tiff. I didn't go to the wedding, it would have been heart-break for me. I don't know why, but it would have.  
  
Brad married Sally, after much convincing on my part. They were on and off for five years. I'm probably the only one that knows how unhappy they would be without each other.  
  
I don't know what happened to Don and Brit. Every time I hear how they ruined their lives, it's so depressing, I don't think I want to see what they could do in this setting.  
  
Mom died, but everyone dies. Except me, I'll be her immortal daughter carrying out the Wakeman name.  
  
Robots still get faster. I suppose they always will. They still got smarter. I guess I'm too old, I starting losing memory chips. I donated them to better equip robots. They still got more convenient. There is practically no use for me now. One thing none of them will ever have though, is independence like I have. They erased that from robot circuits years ago, too much disobedience.  
  
Tuck got his wish. He wished that for the rest of his life I would be there. And I still am. Still sitting by him, no matter how old he gets.  
  
"Jenny?" He'll ask me.  
  
"Yes Tuck?"  
  
"If you wanna leave, I don't want to be a burden."  
  
"Tuck, I've wasted your whole life away. You never got married, or had kids, or anything. You just stayed with me. Believe me, I know burdens, and you're not one."  
  
He pats me on the back.  
  
"Tuck, is this what you wanted from life?"  
  
He nods. "Every bit of it. How about you?"  
  
"There's not much to say about my life." Rocking back and forth in a rocking chair. "My life, as a teenage robot."  
  
***  
  
Awwww...how romantic!  
  
Did y'all like this fic? It took forever to write, so I hope you did.  
  
I'm currently working on another fic, so keep in touch.  
  
Everyone who is reading this needs to open Notepad, or Word, or something, and write a fic! We need our own section! 


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